The makers march on

Last week’s official industrial production figures provided an encouraging sign that the sector’s recovery may have gathered pace in the first quarter. Indeed, even if production only held steady in March, it would have risen by 0.9% over Q1 as a whole, up from Q4’s 0.5% outturn.

And there are several reasons to be optimistic about the prospects for industry further ahead. The business surveys are still consistent with solid growth in manufacturing output, and the balance of the overall economic recovery should be supportive of strong growth in consumer and investment goods production. Overall, we expect manufacturing to expand by a healthy 3.5% in 2014.